Wrapping Up 2025: Highlights of a Rollercoaster Year

Circling back to our end-of-year blog post from 2024, I see we had a resolution post more in 2025. It looks like we fell extremely short of that goal! With that said, it was an extremely busy and productive year for us at the IGG center and we had plenty to do! Here are a few bright spots in what was most certainly an incredible year.

Marianne Hess, IGG Program Assistant:

“My favorite moment of the year was when our team was able to provide a lead for a recently found, unknown Jane Doe. This case took over 18 months, and the team spent 3000+ hours working on the case. It is especially close to my heart because it was the very first case that I worked on as a volunteer after I completed the Ramapo IGG Certificate Program.”

(Note: The case Marianne is speaking of is one yet to be announced.)

David Gurney, IGG Center Director:

David Gurney (center, rear) with Ramapo Volunteers at the Tucson Festival of Books.

“Watching the continued success of Ramapo’s Latin American Project was one of my favorite moments from 2025. Latin American Does are people who deserve to have their names back, and their families deserve to know what happened to their loved ones. In the project’s third year, six of our hardworking volunteers put their sweat (literally!) into handing out 100 FamilyTreeDNA Tests at the Tucson Festival of Books, helping to ensure that Latin American Does are given a better chance of having their names finally returned to them.”

Cairenn Binder, IGG Center Assistant Director:

Ramapo Staff Members Tracie Boyle (left), David Gurney (center), and Cairenn Binder (right of center) sharing a moment with Lauren Felix (left of center) and Bob Taft (right) after the RIGG 2025 Keynote Speech.

“The keynote speech at our conference, RIGG, this year was given by two of my favorite people in the world — Lauren Felix and Bob Taft. Lauren was one of the first students in the IGG Certificate Program, and Bob was present at the launch of the IGG Center in 2022 — I’ve worked with him on cases since 2018! Seeing these two talk about their journey in IGG and the impact of their work on families who needed them felt like a full-circle moment. That happy memory will be one that keeps me content through all of the tumultuous times in the field of investigative genetic genealogy.”

Click here to read our holiday card and learn more about the changes and accomplishments of the IGG Center in 2025.

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